What Love Breeds

Chapter 8

The office employees have avoided Jason Shaw for the last week as much as possible. They attribute his stress to the imminent board meeting, but still. The way he snaps at his receptionist, barks at the lower level employees? They've had enough. At least it all ends this afternoon. The board's luxury cars began to pull up at eleven, and while they take yet another tour of the facilities, Jason prepares his presentation.

Tommy sits quietly beside him as Jason struggles with the projector, muttering to himself with every click and change of his slides. It was a fit just to get the projector screen pulled down.

"You okay, Jay?" Tommy asks softly. He prepares himself for the blowback.

Jason levels him with a glare, a look weighed down by the purple bags sagging beneath his eyes. He snaps, "I'm fine."

Tommy shrugs. "Don't seem so fine."

"I said what I said." Jason doesn't look up as he continues to fiddle. "Don't you have livestock to milk somewhere?"

"Is this about Essie?" Tommy goes on, ignoring the pointed question. "Because you know she's well-behaved now. She barely gives you a second glance. Must be something to do with how resistant she is in the first place. Add that as a positive for the board, and we might as well tell them."

Jason slams his laptop shut. "Fat fucking chance. How do you think–"

The hefty, regal wooden door to the conference room creeps open. Amelia pokes her head inside. "Ready for us yet?"

Jason grunts and gestures for her to join them. She files inside with her top medical assistants at her side. They begin arranging McCarthy's poster displays and going through notecards should any of the board deign to ask the assistants a specific question.

"What's up your ass?" Amelia asks, perching beside Tommy on the edge of the conference table.

"What do you think?" Jason spits. Amelia puts her hands up in surrender.

They work quietly for the next thirty minutes, the room busying themselves with reviews and rehearsals. Jason clicks absently through his PowerPoint. He tries to seem as involved as the rest of them; he has to. But his mind is far gone and it has been for the last seven days. Every second of silence in his mind is filled with the taste of Essie May, with the sight of her wet, wanting hole begging him to take her. He knows it's the milk. It has to be - he fucked her once and didn't give it a second thought. It was perfunctory. But now, her flavor lingers in his every action. Every spare thought is a scheme to see her again, to completely drain her before he unloads himself inside her. Nothing satisfies him anymore. Water, liquor, standard dairy - none of it comes close to her. To the sweet, fluffy, warm and rich–

"Jay? You okay?"

Jason startles and finds his two closest employees staring at him.

Amelia analyzes him quickly. "Are you short of breath? You're breaking out in a sweat. Seems like a panic attack. Purewal, go get Mr. Shaw a glass of water. Move it!"

Purewal darts from the room as fast as her stick legs can carry her.

Jason brushes them off. "I'm fine, for god's fucking sake. Let's just get this over with."

As Purewal returns with a paper cup filled to the brim, Jason's receptionist holds the door for the board members.

"Thank you, Hillary," Jason says. She nods and disappears back to her desk. In her place, the nine members of the board play meet and greet with the staff. Jason shakes each of their hands with a prayer they don't feel his sweat. Once everyone has taken their seat, Jason powers up his presentation, and begins.